And during the fourth quarter of Thursday's Under Armour All-America Game, the star St. Augustine running back extended the official invitation as he committed to the home-state Tigers.

"Well first of all, I want to thank God for giving me this talent and ability to play this game ... for the next three or four years, the Boot baby, LSU," he said on the broadcast. "Me, (running backs coach/recruiting coordinator) Frank (Wilson), coach Les Miles have a great relationship."

The 6-foot-1, 226-pound standout picked a purple LSU hat from a bag, leaving its Alabama and Texas counterparts spurned.

"They're gonna get the best of Fournette, and I welcome them to Buga Nation," he told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.

For all the attention Fournette received nationwide during his heavily followed recruiting process, the ability to continue representing Louisiana was too appealing an option to ignore.

"The coaches, and overall, Louisiana, they kept pushing me to stay home," he said. "It wasn't too much pressure, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere that I was getting from the whole state, so I decided to stay home.

"The process was still Alabama and LSU, so overall, I had to put in the odds and evens of which school I would go to was best, and I just think LSU is the best place for me."